The education of Ryan Feltner continued Sunday with another painful lesson.
The Rockies’ hard-throwing right-hander handled the Pirates with aplomb for five innings, but Feltner’s command deserted him in a four-run sixth inning. The result was a 5-3 loss at PNC Park that prevented the free-falling Rockies from their first series win of the season.
Colorado’s streak of 10 straight series without a series victory is the longest stretch to begin a season in franchise history. The Rockies finished their road trip 1-7 and now own an 8-26 record, tied with the White Sox for the worst in the majors. They are on pace to finish the season 38-124.
Colorado entered the sixth leading 3-1, and Feltner had just pitched a super-sharp one-two-three fifth. But then Feltner’s slider flattened out, and the Pirates jumped on the misplaced pitch in the pivotal sixth.
“The ball got elevated in the sixth,” manager Bud Black told reporters in Pittsburgh. “He threw some high sliders … the ball just started creeping up a little bit. The first five innings were solid. (Feltner threw) the ball in, out, and, at times, up.”
But the precision that made Feltner so effective deserted him. Connor Joe led off with a single, followed by a Bryan Reynolds double to right. Ke’Bryan Hayes’ ground out to shortstop scored Joe to make it 3-2.
The Pirates took a 4-3 lead when Oneil Cruz hunted Feltner’s 0-1 slider and drove it 429 feet to center for a two-run homer. Rowdy Tellez’s double of the right-field wall and Jack Suwinski’s RBI single nailed down another Rockies defeat.
Feltner (1-3) gave up eight hits, struck out three and walked none in 5 2/3 innings as his ERA rose to 5.54.
The Rockies’ offense, which has been so tepid this season, scored in just one inning, a three-run second that featured back-to-back homers by Jacob Stallings and Sean Bouchard. Brendan Rodgers sparked the rally with a one-out double and trotted home on Stalling’s blast to center off Pittsburgh right-hander Bailey Falter. Bouchard followed with a solo homer to left.
Bouchard also hit a two-out double in the ninth but was stranded when pinch-hitter Jake Cave struck out looking.
“We are unable to get the big hit a couple of different times throughout the course of the game,” Black said. “That’s been a killer for our offense. Somewhere along the line, we’ve got to get a couple of guys hot and be able to capitalize when we get a guy by hitting the ball in the gap. Or keep the line going with a couple of more hits. It just hasn’t happened so far this season.”
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